Founders

Hosted by David Senra · 27 korrents · 1 episode · 1 guest · www.founderspodcast.com ↗

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Each episode below lists what its guest said, quoted word for word from the recording's automatic captions (the show publishes no transcript of its own), kept as captioned, and linked to the second it was said, so you can hear it rather than take our word for it. The sentence on each line is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Nothing the host ASKED is here, on any line: a question is not a belief, however confidently it is phrased. Where David Senra asserts something in their own voice it is on their own page, never counted against a guest.

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David Heinemeier Hansson 27

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About Everything investing 2 Linux 2 SaaS 2 ambition 1 code generation 1 creativity 1 management 1 open source 1 politics 1 simplicity 1 social media 1 team size 1 the cloud 1 venture capital 1

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David Heinemeier HanssonCreator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals, and creator of Omarchy.26 Jul 2026 · 1h 41m · 27 korrentsOn investing, Linux and SaaS

DHH: How to Build a Profitable Company Without Losing Control

David Heinemeier Hansson

Our page for this episode →Watch on youtube.com ↗

Our reading — their words are on the recording

0:07:43
Our reading
The competitive threat to a small software company is a team of two or four working under the same constraints, never the behemoth.
Their wordsI'm worried, and still am, about a team of two, about a team of four, because they will produce software that's competitive with ours because it comes out of the same constraints. And therefore, our threat doesn't come from the behemoth.
team size
0:09:00
Our reading
AI acceleration threatens 'less software': without the constraint of scarce hours, even 37signals will likely build too much.
Their wordsSo, this is why I'm quite skeptical about all this new AI acceleration we're having is even us, I think it's quite likely that we could use it wrong to build too much software, to get too far away from less software, learnable software. It still has to fit in the mind of a human.
simplicity code generation
0:12:16
Our reading
Venture money ruins software: raise a fortune, hire hundreds, and crap comes out, because the funnel that forces hard choices is gone.
Their wordsThis was one of the reasons why I was always so skeptical about venture capital when it came to software. Because I saw time and again people raise an enormous amount of money, hire hundreds of people, and produce crap software.
venture capital
0:18:18
Our reading
Old versions are kept until the end of the internet: Basecamp's 2004 version, unsold since 2010, still makes millions in profit.
Their wordsSo, for Basecamp, we kept those old versions. The version we launched in 2004, we stopped selling in 2010. 16 years ago. We still have customers on it. As an individual business, it's still making millions of dollars.
SaaS
0:20:32
Our reading
Software should be allowed to be finished, the way a knife or an album is, and the customer who bought the old version should get to keep it.
Their wordsAnd I actually wish we had more of a capacity in software to accept finished products. This is one of my great envies of people who make physical products. By the time you ship, I don't know, a knife, it's done.
SaaS
0:23:41
Our reading
His career only took off once he could close a door and see no one for long stretches; open offices flatlined his productivity and creativity.
Their wordsAnd in fact, when I look back upon my career, it only took off when I could close my door and not see anyone for long stretches of uninterrupted time.
ambition creativity

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